- Steven Mead – Euphonium – Jury President
- Anne Barras – Eb Saxhorn
- Bastien Baumet – Euphonium
- Emile Berret – Euphonium
- Sophie Binet-Budelot – Eb Saxhorn
- Ricardo Carvalhoso – Tuba
- Micaël Cortone D’Amore – Tuba
- Guillaume Dionnet – Tuba
- Gerard Hostein – Trumpet
- Florian Wielgosik– Tuba
- David Zambon – Tuba
Steven Mead
Steven Mead is known as one of the worlds leading brass soloists, having played with many of the world’s finest wind and brass bands and orchestras.
His sensational career as a professional soloist continues at an astonishing pace, and with over seventy five solo performances a year, his relentless schedule sees him touring almost constantly.
He is Professor of Euphonium at the Royal Northern College of Music and also at teaches at several specialist schools across Europe, including Augsburg University and the Milan Conservatory.
His remarkable solo career followed on from success he achieved as a member of several of the UK’s leading brass bands, including the Desford Colliery Band in the mid 80’s when they won a hat trick of victories in the National Brass Band Championships.
He has played solo concerti with symphony orchestras in Norway (Trondheim Symphony Orchestra) , Finland (Lahti Symphony Orchestra cond.Osmo Vänskä, and Helsinki Philharmonic cond. Elgar Howarth), Poland (Capella Cracoviensis), USA, Canada, Italy, Japan, and Lithuania.
He has also given concert tours and recorded with several leading professional chamber ensembles in Europe, including Sound-Inn-Brass, Spanish Brass, Trombonisti Italiani, London Brass and is a founder member of the Brass Band of Battle Creek.
As an innovator for the whole ‘low brass’ world in general, he has organised all six of the National Tuba Euphonium Conferences , held in the UK, and was Artistic Director of the next International Euphonium Tuba Conference, held in Austria in June 2012.
His innovation is also evident with his premiere performances of new concerti and major works by Martin Ellerby, Philip Sparke, Torstein Aagaard Nilsen, Tadeusz Kassatti, John Reeman, Derek Bourgeois, Vladimir Cosma, Thomas Dos, Howard Snell to name but a few.
He has been described as one of the world’s most recorded solo brass artists with over 75 CDs to his credit. Several of these CDs have won major international awards.
He is the owner of the music label, Bocchino Music which now produces and distributes his albums. In recent years he has also produced CDs for major labels including Naxos.
Steven has been the Artistic Director of the Jeju International Wind Ensemble Festival, South Korea (2013-2020) and is currently also Artistic Director of the Bolsover International Brass Band Summer School.
Steve is also owner of the popular low brass web store.
Steven has been an artist, designer and clinician with Besson for many years, and is acclaimed for his contribution to the success of the Besson euphoniums.
In recent years he has also been increasingly sought after as an adjudicator and conductor.
More on : https://www.besson.com/fr/artist/steven-mead/
Anne Barras
Anne was born in 1990 in Sion, Switzerland. She started playing the tenor horn at 8 years old, and joined her village’s music society, the “Ancienne Cécilia”, in Chermignon in 2002.
Anne is a founding member of the Valaisia Brass Band, of which she is the solo tenor horn since 2008. With this Brass Band, she has won the Swiss Open Champion (2013), the Swiss Brass Band Championship (2009, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021), the European Brass Band Championship (2018) and the British Open Brass Band Championship (2017).
As a soloist, Anne has won 1st prize in her age category at the Junior Slow Melody Contest in 2007, and at the Swiss Young Soloist Championship in 2009. She has also obtained the title of “Tenor Horn Young Swiss Champion” (2009, 2010), and “Tenor Horn Swiss Champion” (adult category) in 2009 and 2011.
In 2019, she wins the 1st Swiss International Alto Horn Festival in St-Maurice (Switzerland).
Also active in quartet music, she was named valaisian champion in quartets in 2011 and 2014, and Swiss Champion in 2013.
She has been playing with the VAAG Brass Quartet since 2019 with Vincent Bearpark, Anthony Rausis and Glenn Van Looy.
Anne is a Geneva artist. She’s been playing on the Cardinal tenor horn since 2017.
Bastien Baumet
Born in 1988, Bastien began his musical apprenticeship at the age of six. In 2003, he was unanimously awarded a euphonium gold medal with “congratulations from the jury” at the Conservatoire de Nîmes. Then, in 2005, he obtained his music training diplomas and a euphonium gold medal unanimously with “congratulations of the jury” at the Villeurbanne Conservatory.
In 2006, at the age of 17, he was awarded first prize at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, where he was unanimously awarded a 1st prize with honours by the Jury in June 2009.
In 2006, he won the European Competition for Young Soloists in Luxembourg. Bastien is Euphonium solo of the Paris Brass-Band (French Champion 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) and member of the Prestige Brass Quartet (CD “Divertimento”).
Moreover, since 2006, he has been regularly invited by groups such as the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, the Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Paris, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Orchestre National de France,… These experiences have led him to play in prestigious venues and to work with the greatest conductors (Pierre Boulez, Tugan Sokhiev, Daniele Gatti,…)
In 2007, Bastien was appointed, through a competition, euphonium solo of the Orchestre d’Harmonie des Gardiens de la Paix of the Préfecture de Police de Paris.
In 2008, he won 1st prize in the international YOGU competition in South Korea, one of the most prestigious competitions for euphonium.
In June 2012, he won the soloist prize at the Amboise Open in Brass-band. He was appointed professor at the Conservatoire du 13ème arrondissement in July 2011. He has also been teaching at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon since 2017.
Since 2008, Bastien has been performing regularly as a soloist in France and abroad, where he gives recitals, solo concerts with brass band, Harmony Orchestra or Symphony in combination with master classes.
In January 2012 he released his first CD “Art of the Euphonium” at the Indian record company.
In 2014, he produced his second album “Portraits” in duo with Alexis Demailly (principal cornet of the Paris Opera)
His third album is called “Romance” recorded with Mathilde Nguyen on the piano in 2016. “Radiance ” recorded with the Lisbon Air Music, was released in 2019.
Bastien Baumet is a Besson Artist (Buffet Crampon)
More on http://bastienbaumet.fr/
Émile Berret
Born in 2000, Emile started playing the euphonium at 8 years old with Claude Lherminier in Auxerre. In 2015, he started studying with Stéphane Balzeau in Tours, and then studied with David Maillot in Levallois from 2016 at the same time.
Emile has successfully entered the prestigious Lyon National Superior Conservatoire in 2018, and is now in 2cd year of his Master’s Degree, studying with Bastien Baumet, Guillaume Dionnet and Arnaud Boukhitine.
He has played with the Saint-Etienne Opera, the Lyon Opera, and is currently in multiple ensembles : Penta’saône (brass quintet), Abracadabrass (brass ensemble), Astrobrass (New Orleans ensemble). He also plays the serpent and the flugabone.
In 2021, he won the 1st prize of the 1st edition of the Antibes International Tuba Competition. And in 2022, he was ranked 3rd in the Paris Tuba Competition.
Emile is currently teaching at the Auxerre Conservatoire.
Ricardo Carvalhoso
One of the most prominent tuba players of his generation, Ricardo Carvalhoso has built his career on a singing and energetic approach to brass playing, leading him to win jobs in several orchestras across Europe.
Since 2017 he is Principal Tuba of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. Prior to this engagement, Carvalhoso was Tuba-Solo of the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra and later he assumed the same position with the Orchestra of the Zurich Opera House
Philharmonia Zurich.
His orchestral activity has led him to perform in some of the most important concert halls around the globe, including New York, Tokyo, Paris, London, Berlin and Vienna.
In 2014 he played Vaughan Williams’ Tuba Concerto with the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Walter Hilgers.
Between 2009 and 2011 he was awarded with a series of international prizes including the Young Musicians Award in Portugal, the “Aosta Valley” Brass Competition in Italy, the Tuba Competition “Ville d’Avray” in France and the Music Prize of the Kiefer Hablitzel Foundation in Switzerland. His musical education started in Portugal at the age of 14 years old and his first teachers included juan Carlos Diaz, Chris Lee, Eduardo Nogeroles and Sergio Carolino. After graduating from Porto University of Music and Performing Arts, he pursued his Master Degree in Switzerland with Anne JeIIe Visser.
Ricardo Carvalhoso plays Yamaha instruments and is a sought-after pedagogue and soloist.
Micaël Cortone d’Amore
Born in Nice in 1970, Michael Cortone d’Amore began his musical studies at C. N. R. Nice, first of all in piano class. At 12, his encounter with Bruno Zambon, tuba professor, was decisive in what would become his career. He obtained a first-prize in saxhorn in 1987 and a first tuba prize in 1991. The great tubist Melvin Cubertson was his master from 1991 to 1995; First at the Perpignan Conservatory where he received an Award of Excellence in 1993, then at the C. N. S. M. Lyon where he was admitted the same year.
In July 1995, Micaël was hired as Solo Tuba in the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra and tuba professor at the Strasbourg Conservatoire. For three years, he conducted the Conservatoire’s large brass ensemble.
In parallel, he performs regularly as a soloist both in recital with piano and with the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he played the Concertino by Jan Koetsier in October 1996 and the Concerto by John Williams in March 2001. He is also part of the Euro Brass Quintet Strasbourg, and plays with the Opus 4 brass quartet since 2002.
Micael plays on Melton instruments.
Guillaume Dionnet
Guillaume has been the National Lyon Orchestra’s solo tubist since 2007, as well as a professor at the Lyon National Superior Conservatoire since 2017.
He has studied with Gerard Buquet and Jens Mac Manama at the Paris National Superior Conservatoire.
Guillaume plays regularly with the Radio-France Philharmonic Orchestra and the Suisse Romande Orchestra, in prestigious halls such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, or Carnegie Hall in New York.
Guillaume develops multiple projects : he has published the CD “Tribute to Lady Day”, organized shows for the youngest, played solo with organ, and as soloist with the Lyon National Orchestra, playing the Ralph Vaughan-Williams tuba concerto in 2009.
As a chamber musician, Guillaume plays with the Bokeh Tuba Quintet and the Caeli brass quartet. He has also co-founded the OnLy Brass Quintet, which has won the 3rd prize at the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition in 2012.
A dedicated professor, Guillaume is partner with the Eurocuivres academy, Caluire et Cuivres, Make It Brass (LUX) and Eurocuivres ASIA (TWN).
Guillaume Dionnet plays on Melton instruments.
More on : https://www.melton-meinl-weston.com/fr/artist/guillaume-dionnet/
Gerard Hostein
Biography to come…
Florian Wielgosik
Florian Wielgosik, French tuba player, became the new principal tuba of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo in March 2015 at the age of 19.
1st prizes of Markneukirchen, Jeju, “concourstubatours” international tuba competition.
Florian release a Solo CD : HOME under the label Klarthe In 2018.
After studies of Saxhorn and Tuba with François Thuillier at the Conservatoire Régional of Amiens where he graduated in 2013, Florian continues his studies at the CNSMPD in the class of Gérard Buquet and André Gilbert. He was a summer intern at the “Académies de cuivres et percussions ” of Surgères and Dieppe with Jérémie Dufort, David Maillot, Bastien Baumet et Bastien Stil. From October 2014 to July 2015 he was at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe with Dirk Hirthe as part of the Erasmus programme.
Until 2013, he was member of the Orchestre de cuivres d’Amiens (BrassBand) under the direction of Eric Brisse. During the 2014/2015 season he often played with the Ensemble Intercontemporain led by Matthias Pintscher, Orchestre de Picardie headed by Arie Van Beek and the Paris Brass Band headed by Florent Didier. In 2014 he was member of the junge deutsch-französische philharmonie headed by Nicolas Richter in Bayreuth, and the Orchestre Français des Jeunes headed by Dennis Russell Davies.
Florian performs on a Miraphone F-tuba Elektra, BBb-tuba Hagen 496 and Jérôme Wiss Mouthpieces
More on : https://www.miraphone.de/kuenstler/post/florian-wielgosik.html
David Zambon
David Zambon began his studies at the Regional Conservatory in Nice, France, as a student of Bruno Zambon, his father, and received further training with Mel Culbertson and Roger Bobo. He then entered the Paris Conservatory (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris) in 1994 where his principal instrumental teacher was Fernand Lelong. During his Paris Conservatory studies he took courses in Generative Improvisation given by Alain Savouret and Rainer Boech, and won a First Prize in tuba in 1997. He then completed graduate study programs in order to obtain teaching credentials (1999), working at this time in class of Perfection with the violinist Jean Mouillère (Via Nova Quartet) and Gilbert Audin, first bassoonist of the Paris Opera Orchestra.
In 1998 he won the “Avant-Scène” Competition, in 2000, both the Second and the Jury’s Special Prizes in the International Competition in Cheju, Korea, as well as the Second Prize in the International Competition in Brno (Czech Republic).
As a concert soloist, David Zambon has been an invited guest artist in performances with orchestra (PACA Orchestra, Garde Républicaine Philharmonic Orchestra, Nice Philharmonic Orchestra, Paris Brass Orchestra, and other wind and brass ensembles in France and Italy). He was also a featured guest artist in France (Festival d’Automne in Paris, Festival of Langoiran, Radio France for Musicora, Festival New Talents in Villers-sur-Mer, Festival of Sacred Music in Nice, Festival “Soirées Estivales”, Nice Festival Academy). Other international festival activities include guest appearances at the Banff Center for the Arts Festival (Canada), Europäischer Musikmonat (Switzerland), Festival Piazzolla in Castelfilardo (Italy), Kagoshima Tuba Festival (Japan), Sounding Jerusalem (Israel), RNCM Festival (England). He has also given solo concerts on international tours in Middle East, East Africa and China, Korea, Japan.
David Zambon has worked with composers like Butterfield, Toovey, Kurtag, and Komulainen. He has participated in several world première performances (“Burger Time or the Temptations of Saint Anthony” by Mauro Lanza, for tuba and live electronic music, “Mouvements contraires et figures libres” by Mico Nissim, for tuba and piano, Luc Marty’s Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra, written especially for him). Invited repeatedly for live recitals on television and radio broadcasts, David Zambon has also recorded several CD’s of which “De Anima” is an exploration of different combinations of tuba with string quartet, accordion, and tuba ensembles).
Over the years he has continuously revisited the classical repertory of various instruments (violin, cello, flute) creating new ways of playing and listening to the tuba.
A renowned teacher, David Zambon is professor at the Regional Conservatory in Versailles, director of the Meudon Conservatoire, and is regularly called on for master classes.
As a Melton Meinl Weston artist, David Zambon plays exclusively on Melton Meinl Weston tubas from the Wenzel Meinl Musikinstrumentenmanufaktur in Geretsried, Germany: Melton Meinl Weston F-Tuba model 46SLP and Melton Meinl Weston CC-Tuba model 2145.
More on : https://www.melton-meinl-weston.com/en/artist/david-zambon/
